Well after looking at Aircooled, Speedyk, and fiber optic's threads with jealousy, I finally decided to make one of my own as it will encourage me to take pictures and keep track of everything I do to the various cars I and my family own.

First up a new purchase:

A 1999 Subaru Outback (Pics to come of everything)

Color: WhiteTransmission: AutotragicMileage: 152,000Price: $400.00

Reason for purchase: My Dad got bored of early retirement and with the market being as volatile as it is, investing is to high risk for his assessment's so he decided to head back to the salt mine and work for my uncle. His commute is forty miles each way, and with my mom needing her Subaru (2011 Outback Limited) for day to day shit, and him not wanting to put miles on the Porsche, I found this for him. It was a customer car of ours at the shop I used to work at and now do "freelance" type repairs and work at, the customer was an elderly (70's) who bought the car with 140,000 on it in 2008. She hardly drove it and four years later it has a little under 152,000 miles on it. She took good care of it but it does need some TLC.

Problems/Potential Problems:

1. Car needs lower ball joints, no biggie. They cost me $19.58 each for some mickey mouse brand that we get from our auto parts guy. I will be installing them next week.

2. Car needs four tires and an alignment. In an effort to make this a decent budget repair, and get a decent ROI (in terms of usage) for money invested. We just bought four Sumitomo HTR T4 tires. They are nothing special, besides the fact that they are cheap. At $65.00 a tire I couldnt go wrong and they get "okay" reviews on TireRack. The alignment will cost me thirty dollars as we do not have an alignment rack but my best friend's dad's shop does so I will take it there.

3. Car needs a hell of a detail inside and out. (Pics to come) The car sat outside our shop for three months, so it will be getting a full wash, clay, wax, vacuum, and detail when we get it registered and plates.

4. Car needs a front left wheel bearing. The previous customer drove the car with a bad wheel bearing for way to long that one more drive and the wheel may very well fall off. To replace it requires removing the spindle. I will have to take it to our machine shop as we do not have a press. (Wheel bearings are pressed into the hub on AWD Subaru's). I may have to remove the axle and spindle all at once but I am not sure, progress pictures to come.

5. Car will be getting a FULL tuneup and fluid change. This is something I do out of habit after every used car I buy. It is cheep for me to do so for the peace of mind I do it. The list of tune up stuff is as follows-- Oil and filter change- Automatic transmission fluid change not flush- Coolant flush with new thermostat and gasket- Front and rear differential gear oil change (75w90)- P/S fluid flush- Four wheel brake bleed- New air filter (if needed)- Three new wipers (two front, one rear)- Four new spark plaugs- One new ignition wire set- One new PCV valve- New accessory belts

Potential Problems:

1. This car has the 2.5 N/A motor which is notorious for head gasket failures. I have no repair history previous to the owner who was a customer of ours, so I do not know if they have ever been replaced. I cannot properly inspect the motor for possible leaks until I can get it into the shop, which cannot be done until I fix the wheel bearing.

2. I have no history on if the timing belt has been done. If it needs one it will also be getting new pulley's and a water pump.

3. It may need a rack and pinion but I won't know for sure until it is on a lift.

4. It may need pads and rotors, need the wheels off for further inspection

I will have pics to come and more details on other cars I work on... So this is my first official thread.

speedyK

Dec 1 2011, 11:38 AM

Btw, you've got a typo in the title "Vehcicle Thread".

shandyman5

Dec 1 2011, 11:41 AM

QUOTE(speedyK @ Dec 1 2011, 02:38 PM)

Btw, you've got a typo in the title "Vehcicle Thread".

Hey Thanks! I think I need admin to edit that and the fact that I capitalized % instead of 5.

fiber optic

Dec 1 2011, 11:45 AM

Looking forward to pics.

skr

Dec 1 2011, 03:24 PM

The valve cover gaskets go out on these notoriously as well. It's not necessarily a fatal problem though.. Oil just gets into the spark plug chambers. Plan on doing that when changing you spark plugs.

My 2003 Legacy has a couple of minor problems.. Mostly this wind noise I hear at freeway speeds. No idea what to do or where to star tin fixing this.

My front left wheel bearing went on me once.. I just paid like 150 bucks to fix it including labor at a shop. The main thing about maintaning a car like this is to be mindful of your tires. If you have inconsistent wear on your tires, this will put more wear on your differentials which can equate to thousands of dollars in repairs.

Good luck! I'm sure we'll share some similar situations along the way.

moe

Dec 5 2011, 03:20 AM

^ No one cares about your Legacy. MOAR Integra news!

Aircooled

Dec 5 2011, 02:31 PM

Welcome to the club

skr

Dec 5 2011, 04:20 PM

QUOTE(moe @ Dec 5 2011, 03:20 AM)

^ No one cares about your Legacy. MOAR Integra news!

LOL, nothing new really.. I might actually sell it so I can gear up for the BRZ.

shandyman5

Dec 9 2011, 05:34 PM

UPDATE-

Today was the start of my Christmas break, so I went over to the shop to get some progress on the 'ol Subaru. Like an asshole, I took pictures but forgot my camera at home (in an airport on the way to Florida). I will list the progress updates and will FINALLY have pictures next Monday.

Here is where progress is at now..

I got the spindle out, but not without complications. The ABS sensor is pretty much never leaving the spindle, so I had to cut it. (I may going to resodder it together instead of buying a new one). The wheel bearing was so bad, it ruined the hub and the ABS tone ring. I ordered a new tone ring at the employee price of $82.00 (ridiculous price for a friggen tone ring). The tone ring should be in Monday so the hub will be able to be pressed into the spindle and be waiting for my installation when I get back.

The car did need a new ball joint on the passenger lower control arm, and I had to remove the lower control arm and remove the ball joint with a torch.

I never realized the Outback had a 2.5 DOHC, I thought it was a single cam. Changing the plugs is a bitch because of it. The single cam has the plugs angled slightly upward, the DOHC has them recessed between the cams, making it much harder. The timing belt has been replaced and upon inspection of the belt "teeth" and the pulley's and tensioner it is good to go.

I will do plugs and wires eventually, but for now I am just going to let it go, a they have been replaced.

Currently the car sits on jack stands waiting for the spindle and hub to be pressed on and installed. After that I will be able to drive the car into the shop and do all of the fluid changes in there.

That's all for now, pictures soon.

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